


the commute

by belligerent (orphan_account)



Category: Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Commute, Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Gen, Nonbinary Character, peter is nb, there is profanity but theres no sex or violence so i'm rating this g
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-28
Updated: 2017-02-28
Packaged: 2018-09-27 12:29:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10020851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/belligerent
Summary: Peter commutes.





	

**Author's Note:**

> because i can use whatever words i want, and don't need to be told what to do from someone who reads [pedophilia](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9502808?show_comments=true#comments) <3
> 
> tumblr: pupperbee <3
> 
> btw i didn't take this seriously at all and this is 100% me only posting out of pettiness.

Peter hasn't seen MJ since she moved to Manhattan. It's pretty far from Queens, y'know. A lot of people need to commute there for work or school, especially since when people think of New York City, they usually think of Manhattan. It's probably the richest area in the city.

 

Peter's always known that MJ's family, well, sucks. He's just never had the power to do anything about it. Luckily, MJ had decided that she'd had enough and now lives with her nana. It sucks not having her around, sure, but she still commutes to Queens to go to the same school as him.

 

It's funny - commuting in New York is so common, but Peter's internet friends always talk about how they would never commute more than fifteen minutes for school. He supposes that commuting is easier when you're living in the city.

 

There's a couple chatting to each other right in front of him. Most of the other people on the subway are silent, either plugged in to headphones or quietly waiting for their stop to arrive. The ugly orange and yellow seats are almost completely full, but luckily it's empty enough that Peter got to sit, as opposed to clutching onto a pole for dear life.

 

"She never stops talking about her commute for work," one of the women in the couple says, rolling her eyes at her partner. The only way Peter can tell that they are together is their hands linked together hidden underneath a purse. Even in New York City, one of the most accepting places in the country, they still feel like they have to hide. It sucks. Peter wishes that he could go  _hello, I am also not-straight! We might be the only ones on this subway who are not straight, but we can band together_! Except he's fifteen, and they look thirty, and adults get annoyed when teenagers speak.

 

"It's annoying," the woman continues. "But what makes it worse is the fact that she seems to think that everyone who complains about  _their_ commute is overreacting, since hers is a whole thirty minutes long."

 

"Oh, jeez," the other woman says. "Thirty minutes? That's not bad at all, if we're talking round trip."

 

" _I know,_ " the first woman agrees. "It's like jeez, lady, I work my butt off and it takes me thirty minutes to get to my job so I can provide for my wife and kids, and whenever I even  _mention_ something about the commute or a man on the train, she complains that  _I'm_ overreacting! Jeez. People are so weird."

 

"People  _are_ so weird."

 

Peter agrees. People are very weird.

 

The women get off in two stops time and Peter's quiet - he still has three more stops to go before he gets to MJ's. Luckily, her nana's apartment is only two blocks away from the subway station. He might embarrass himself in front of the doorman, though. He always does.

 

Someone sits next to him, and they smell like barbecue sauce. Peter wants a hamburger now, with bacon and barbecue sauce, maybe avocado ... yum. 

 

His stomach growls, painfully loudly, and the person next to him laughs. "Man, I hate when that happens," they say. "When you're tryna be discreet, but your stomach says 'fuck you' and starts screaming."

 

This is not the weirdest conversation Peter has had with a stranger on the subway. Not even close. "Dude, I know, right?" Peter asks. "Life is awful and we are all dying."

 

The monotone makes the stranger laugh. "Man, this commute is always fun," they say. "The coolest people are around at six in the evening, though there's also a few grumpy adults getting home from work. It's the ride home from work that's kinda spooky. I get home at like midnight, and everyone on the subway is  _drunk_ at midnight."

 

"Oh, my," Peter says. "That kinda sucks."

 

"Yeah, it does. My job sucks more, though. The commute ain't bad, just a few stops."

 

Peter takes the bait, putting his hand on the seat to steady him as the subway comes to a stop. "What do you work as?"

 

"I work at the gentleman's club on 53rd," is the answer. "Men are gross, no offense."

 

"I'm not a man," Peter says. They open their mouth to apologize, so Peter quickly adds on, "And none taken."

 

"You know what the worst thing is? People talk to me as if I don't know nothin'. I work to get my degree at day, work for money at night, and because I ain't got some white collar job with all the rich folks, I don't know nothin'. Hell, I had people describe the damn  _metro system_ to me as if I don't ride it to work every damn day for this commute."

 

"People are weird," Peter says, quoting the couple from earlier.

 

Peter's stop is next, so he stands up and salutes the person next to them. Looking at them fully now, he realizes that they're quite attractive. They look like one of those people who could roll out of bed and still be cute. Peter's completely jealous. "Nice talking to you," he says, because Aunt May raised him to have manners, dammit.

 

"Seeya, kid," is the answer. After, they say to themself, quiet, "commutes don't gotta be that bad."

**Author's Note:**

> high school sux part two will probs be up sometime this week. 
> 
> (context for this fic: i tried to use the word commute as many times as possible lol)


End file.
